The Story of Human Language

Course Overview

Course No. 1600

Explore the evolution, diversity, and mysteries of human communication with linguist John McWhorter in this digitally remastered classic.

This 36-lecture journey examines:

• Origins of language 150,000 years ago to today’s 7,000 tongues
• How and why languages change over time
• Major language families and their connections
• Dialects, creoles, and artificial languages
• Threats to linguistic diversity and revival efforts

Video Lectures

01: What Is Language? (28 min)

Distinguish human communication from animal systems and explore language’s origins.

02: When Language Began (30 min)

Debate whether language is an innate ability or part of general cognition.

03: How Language Changes: Sound Change (30 min)

Track phonetic shifts like the Great Vowel Shift in English.

04: Building New Material (30 min)

Discover how languages develop novel words and grammatical structures.

05: Meaning and Order (31 min)

See how “silly” evolved from “blessed” and how syntax transforms.

06: Many Directions (30 min)

Understand how Latin diversified into Romance languages.

07: Modern English (30 min)

Analyze Shakespearean vs. contemporary English meanings.

08: Language Families: Indo-European (30 min)

Trace this family’s roots to 4000 BCE Eurasian steppes.

09: Tracing Indo-European (30 min)

Reconstruct proto-words like “sister-in-law” through comparative linguistics.

10: Diversity of Structures (30 min)

Compare Semitic root systems to Sino-Tibetan contextual grammar.

11: Clues to the Past (30 min)

Map human migrations through Austronesian and other language distributions.

12: Case Against Proto-World (31 min)

Challenge controversial claims of reconstructing the first language.

13: Case For Proto-World (30 min)

Examine evidence for ancient “mega-ancestor” language groups.

14: Dialects: Subspecies (30 min)

Reframe dialects as natural variations, not corruptions.

15: Drawing the Line (30 min)

Explore how politics turns dialects into separate languages.

16: Two Tongues in One Mouth (30 min)

Study diglossia in societies using formal/casual language variants.

17: The Standard as Token (30 min)

See how literacy slows language change, creating diglossia.

18: Spoken vs. Written Style (31 min)

Contrast oral and literary language conventions.

19: Fallacy of Blackboard Grammar (30 min)

Debunk prescriptive notions of “correct” speech.

20: Language Mixture: Words (30 min)

Track lexical borrowing across languages worldwide.

21: Grammar Mixture (29 min)

Analyze Yiddish’s Slavic-influenced German grammar.

22: Language Areas (30 min)

Discover how geographic proximity shapes grammatical convergence.

23: Beyond the Call of Duty (31 min)

Examine “grammatical frills” like gender markers.

24: Language Interrupted (30 min)

Learn how isolation breeds complexity vs. contact-driven streamlining.

25: New Perspective on English (30 min)

Reconstruct English’s journey from Proto-Indo-European roots.

26: Does Culture Drive Change? (30 min)

Evaluate the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis on language and thought.

27: Pidgins (30 min)

Study simplified contact languages for basic communication.

28-29: Creoles I-II (31 min each)

Trace how pidgins evolve into full-fledged creole languages.

30: Signs of the New (30 min)

Compare creole grammars to hypothesized first language structures.

31: The Creole Continuum (30 min)

Map dialectal gradations between creoles and source languages.

32: What Is Black English? (30 min)

Root African American Vernacular English in British/Irish dialects.

33: Language Death: The Problem (31 min)

Confront the crisis of 5,500 languages potentially disappearing by 2100.

34: Language Death: Prognosis (30 min)

Assess challenges in reviving endangered languages.

35: Artificial Languages (30 min)

Survey Esperanto and sign languages as constructed communication systems.

36: Finale: Master Class (32 min)

Deconstruct an English sentence’s etymological tapestry.